Barclays' Bob Diamond resigns, tainted in scandal; was responsible for arena naming rights deal; will MTA feel chagrin about selling subway station naming rights?

Photo by Adrian Kinloch, 6/10 rally

The executive responsible for the Barclays Center naming rights deal--rights that New York State gave to developer Forest City Ratner--has resigned in the wake of a scandal. And that puts an asterisk on the first subway station naming rights ever sold by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

From MSNBC:

LONDON - Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, resigned early Tuesday over the lending rate-rigging scandal that last week saw the bank fined a record amount by U.S. and U.K. regulators.
The move deepens the latest crisis to hit the financial services industry, with observers suggesting investigations into the manipulation of inter-bank lending rates could soon implicate banks in the United States.
Diamond’s resignation comes a day after the company’s chairman Marcus Agius announced his own departure. Despite also being implicated in the issue, Agius will stay on to lead the search for a replacement chief executive, according a statement early Tuesday.

At the March 2010 arena groundbreaking, as I wrote, Diamond was relatively brief, leading off by thanking several people, "including my good friend Bruce."

"This is a landmark partnership in so many ways," he said. "It's about our commitment to the regeneration of Brooklyn in some small way. But it's also about facilitating absolutely top-flight professional sporting achievement."

Not only the Nets but "many great events" will be held at the arena. "All of them will emphasize commitment," he said. "All of them will emphasize dedication to excellence. And all of them will emphasize teamwork. And that fits very very strongly with the ethos and the values of Barclays."

Those resisting the ethos and values of Barclays can always try a t-shirt that protests the renaming of the Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street subway station to Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr.